Method of and apparatus for wrapping packages



2,907,157 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING PACKAGES Filed Dec. 16.1955 J. W. ROMINE Oct 6, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR. mes 1477a/rzz'ne.

BY M2 AKAA IA DZ. TQRIVE/S.

Oct, 6, 59

J. W. ROMINE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING PACKAGES Filed Dec.16. 1955 2 Sheets-s eet 2 INVENTOR. J2me: M 7 7 #72 16, 3 Y

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2,967,15 Patented Oct. 6, 1959 ice METHOD OF APPARATUS FOR WRAPPINGPACKAGES James Wilbur Romine, Monroe, Michu, assignor to GreeningNursery Company, Monroe, Mich, a corporation of Michigan ApplicationDecember 16, 1955, Serial No. 553,610 11 Claims. (Cl. 53-124) Thisinvention relates to an improved apparatus for wrapping and sealingarticles and particularly to an apparatus for wrapping and sealing theroots of rose bushes, shrubs and other articles.

The marketing of shrubbery such as rose bushes, barberry bushes and thelike is facilitated and the hazard of loss is substantially reduced whenthe roots are wrapped with a moisture holding preservative material suchas a peat moss and sawdust mixture in heat scalable paper formed into abag. Because of the length of the roots of rose bushes, for example,they required folding and personal handling and packing which increasedthe time, labor and cost.

One object of the present invention is to provide improved apparatus forpacking and wrapping the roots of shrubs and bushes.

Another object is to provide improved apparatus for packing and wrappingthe roots of growing plants in a cylindrical package made from a sheetof heat scalable material secured along the lapped side and bottom.

A further object is to provide a U-shaped tray having releasable fingersfor holding a heat scalable sheet in which the packing material androots are placed and confined by a plate closing one end and by asemi-cylindrical shoe which compacts the material and roots into acylindrical shape.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a heated shoe toseal the edges of the heat scalable material which are lapped over eachother and the compacting shoe after which the end plate is retracted andthe material folded over the bottom and heat sealed.

The invention will be described in greater detail in connection with theaccompanying drawings of' which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a packing machine embodying featuresof the present invention when in a position to receive the roots of ashrub;

Fig. 2 is a broken perspective view of the machine shown in Fig. 1 whenin position to heat seal the material to form a closure;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the machine shown in Fig. l with thecompacting shoe and end plate withdrawn from the sealed closure;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 2 takenon the line 44 thereof; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 4 takenalong the lines 5-5 thereof.

Apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the instant inventionas shown in the figures includes a work-holding tray 2 rigidly supportedupon a tripod by any convenient means such as the bracket 3. The tripodcomprises the three legs 4, 6 and 8 firmly fastened together in spacedrelationship at their upper ends by the transverse rod 30 and thelongitudinal rod 34. A pair of bracing rods 10 between the legs 8 and 6and 8 and 4 further improve the rigidity of the apparatus. The tray isof semicylindrical shape having folded-over edges and open ends so thatan article such as the roots of a shrub 112 may be placed within thecavity of the tray and surrounded with moist preservative material 118such as a peat moss and sawdust mixture. Toggle clamps 12 are providedalong the folded-over edges of the tray releasably to hold a sheet ofwrapping material 110 such as plastic coated paper within the tray. Thetoggle cl1ps are biased by a spring 14 so as to be retained in either anopen or closed position. An end plate 20 is adjustably connected througha yoke 23 to an arm 24 which is pivoted on a bracket 25 attached to thelongitudinal bar 34 by a pin 27. The arm 24 is biased as by the spring26 engaging a pin 29 to urge the end plate 20 away from the tray. Apivoted latch 28 extends from the transverse bar 30 to engage andrestrain the pivoted arm 24 against the pressure of the spring 26 tothereby retain the end plate in position in the end of the tray. Thelatch 28 is urged as by a spring 108 into engagement with the arm 24.

The end of the transverse rod 30 remote from the tray and approximatelydirectly over the upper end of the leg 8 supports a bushing 54 in whichis mounted a longitudinally slidable and rotatable shaft 52. An arm 46is mounted at right angles to the shaft 52 having at its outer end ahandle 48 from which depends a catch 50. A semi-cyclindrical shoe 42 isrigidly attached to the arm 46 by an extension 43 and screws 44. Whenthe arm 46 is swung downwardly, the shoe 42 enters the tray and compactsthe material therein. A latch 48 supported by a pivoted bracket 38engages the catch 50 when the arm 46 is in its lowermost position withthe shoe compacting the material within the tray. An upstanding U-shapedbracket '78 mounted on the transverse rod 38 supports the shaft of anarm 72 upon which is mounted a heating pad 74 having an arcuate face 75.The heating pad may be heated by any convenient means such as athermostatically controlled electrical heating element (not shown)enclosed within the pad. The arm 72 may be swung forward by grasping thehandle 76 thereof to bring the heating pad into close fittingrelationship with the shoe 42 when in depressed lateral position. I I

A foot pedal 88 is provided for releasing the shoe 42 and the end plate20 from engagement with a partially wrapped package held within the tray2. A rod 90 is connected to the foot pedal 88 and to anarcuatehorizontally movable rod 94, the forward portion of which issupported by a roller 92. A link connects the rod 94 to a crank arm 96,the opposite end of which has a spring 97 attached thereto. The pedal 88is hinged upon a bracket 68 attached to the rear leg 8 of the tripod andwhen depressed rotates the crank 96 in a clockwise direction. The crank96 is rigidly attached to a rod 98 located within a bushing 99 securedto the tripod by a rod 91 and a bar 93. An arm 100 is attached to theprotruding end of the rod 98 to swing therewith when the crank 96 isrotated. The arm 100 has an upstanding end 101 in position to engage thearm 46 when the arm 46 is in its lowered position. When the pedal 88 isdepressed the crank 96 turns the rod 98 thereby swinging the arm 100 andcausing the end 101 to bear against the arm 46 and move it to the left.This moves the shaft 52 and the shoe 42 to the left releasing the latch40 from the catch 50 and withdraws the shoe from the package within thetray. A lever arm 104 is attached to the rod 98 and con nected by a rod186 to the latch 28 to release the arm 24 and the end plate 20. The arm46 is spring biased toward its elevated, nonoperative position by aspring 66 attached between the bracket 68 on the leg 8 and an arm 64 ona bar 56 secured to the 'arm 46. The arm 46 may be reinforced as shownby a bracket and chain assembly 60 and 62.

An auxiliary hot plate 80 is attached by a bracket 78 at any convenientpoint, preferably relatively close to the tray 2. The heating pad 74 andthe hot plate 80 may be heated by electrical resistance elementsthermosta'ticall'y controlled through a set of: relays that'maybecontained in a relay box 116 shown mounted upon the transverse shaft 30.The relays are electrically connected to the heating elements-by thecables 84 and 86. An On-Olf control'switch 120 may also be convenientlymounted in the relay box, and electrical energy may be supplied from anyconvenient source by means of the cable 82.

At the beginning of a wrapping operation, the machine is in the positionshown in Fig. 1 except that the toggle clamps 12 are folded back totheir open position. A sheet of wrapping material- 110 such as papercoated with a heat sealing plastic is placed in the tray and the toggleclamps are closed over the edges thereof. If desired, the paper may beprecut at one end to provide flaps M to facilitate forming the bottom ofthe package. A shrub 112 such as a rose bush has its roots placed in thetray with the main body of the bush including the branches and theleaves resting upon the U-shaped supporting bar 16. The plate Ztl isthen moved into the end of the tray 2 and retained therein by the latch28. Preserving material 113 such as peat moss and sawdust is thenwrapped around the rootsoftthe bush and the swing arm 46 is depressed bygrasping the handle 48 and exerting a downward force to bring the shoe42 into contact with the roots and moss to form a cylindrical cornpactedmass. The catch 50 snaps overand is locked by the latch 40 so that theshoe remains in position after pressure is removed from the handle. Thetoggle clamps 12 are now swung back to their open position and the edgesof the sheet wrapping material 110 are folded over the shoe 42inoverlapping relation. The handle 76 is swung forward and the heating pad74 is moved down over the lapped edges oftne paper thus pressing thembetween the pad and the shoe d2 (see Figs. 2, 4 and 5). Since theheating pad is shaped to conform generally to the shape of the shoe, itprovides uniform heat and pressure over the lapped edges of the paperand thereby seals them together in tube form.

As soon as the scaling is accomplished, the operator depresses the pedal88 to swing the push bar 190 to slide the swing arm 46 away from thetray to draw the shoe 42 out from the sealed paper tube and releases thelatch hook 28 from the arm 24 and the end plate from its position at theend of the tray 2. At this stage of the operation the machine appears asshown in Fig. 3 with the shoe 42 and end plate 20 withdrawn from thetray. As soon as the shoe is withdrawn from beneath the heating pad itis immediately swung upwardly into its initial position. The shaft 52 ismanually slid to the right in the bushing 54 into alignment with thetray. After the heating pad is swung to its inoperative position, theflaps 1"85 at the end of the paper tube are folded over and moved intoengagement with the auxiliary hot plate 80 to seal the bottom. Next,another piece of wrapping material is placed in the tray, the toggleclamps are snapped over to hold the paper in position, the end plate ispushed back into its position in the tray where it is held by the hookand the machine is ready to wrap another bush.

A loose connection is preferably provided between the arm 194 and rod196 so that the latch 28 does not release the arm 24 until after theshoe 42 is withdrawn from the package. In this way the end plate 20remains in position to restrain the package against longitudinalmovement along the tray that might otherwise result from the drag of theshoe upon material within the package. A supporting rack 36 may also beincluded as part of the apparatus to hold a stack of precut sheets ofwrapping material for the convenience of the operator.

It will be appreciated, of course, that the particular shape of the trayand of the package chamber formed by the tray and the shoe is notcritical in the practice of the instant invention. If it is desired toform a square or cuboidal package, the tray may be made rectangular inshape and the shoe and the heating pad may be made flat instead ofcurved as shown. Further, it will be appreciated that the apparatusaccording to the invention may be readily adapted to wrapping generallycylindrical or rectangular packages closed at both ends.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for wrapping and sealing open-end packages comprising ashaped tray, means for releasably holding a sheet of wrapped material insaid tray, a thin shoe shaped to conform to the shape of said packages,said shoe being mounted upon a swingable arm so that it may be swunginto chamber-forming relationship with said tray, said arm being mountedupon a rotatable, slidably mounted shaft, bias means cooperative withsaid arm to urge said shoe away from said tray, releasable means toretain said shoe in said chamber-forming relationship with said tray,heating and pressure means cooperative with said shoe to press and toheat the overlapped wrapping material engaging the surface of said shoewhen said shoe is in said close fitting relationship with said tray,means to slide said shaft to move said shoe with respect to said trayand to release said retaining means, a swingable end plate cooperativewith said tray to restrain the material to be packed within said tray,said end plate being biased away from said tray, and releasable means torestrain said end plate against said bias.

2. Apparatus for wrapping and sealing packages comprising a shaped trayadapted to releasably hold a sheet of wrapping material therein, saidtray forming a semicylindrical cavity with open ends, a shaped shoemember rigidly mounted upon an arm and adapted to form in cooperationwith said tray an open ended cylindrical chamber, said arm being mountedupon a rotatable, slidable shaft so that said shoe member may be swunginto close fitting engagement with said tray and may also be moved in adirection perpendicular to the direction in which it is swung, a movableend plate adapted when in its operative position to close one end ofsaid chamber, and heating and pressing means adapted to cooperate withsaid shoe member to heat and to press sheet material disposed upon saidshoe member.

3. Wrapping and sealing apparatus comprising a shaped tray defining anopen cavity for receiving a sheet of paperlike material capable of beingsealed, a movable shaped shoe member adapted to cooperate with said trayto form an open-ended chamber and to compact a material placed thereinwhich is enclosed in said sheet of material when the ends thereof areoverlapped on said shoe member, means for mounting said shoe member forswinging movement toward and away from said tray and for longitudinalmovement relative to said tray after the ends of the paper-like materialhave been overlapped thereon, and sealing means cooperative with saidshoe member and adapted to seal together the overlapped ends of thesheet of material disposed upon said shoe member to form a tubeencompassing the material to be wrapped whereby said shoe member can bemoved longitudinally relative to said tray after the overlapped ends ofthe paper-like material have been sealed to withdraw the shoe memberfrom its position between the paperlike material and the compactedmaterial.

4. Wrapping and sealing apparatus comprising a shaped tray defining anopen cavity, a movable shaped shoe member adapted to cooperate with saidtray to form an open-ended chamber and to compact a material placedtherein, an end plate cooperative with said tray selectively to closeone end thereof, and sealing means cooperative with said shoe member andadapted to seal together layers of a sheet wrapping material disposedupon said shoe member.

5. Wrapping and sealing apparatus comprising a shaped tray defining anopen cavity, a movable shaped shoe member adapted to cooperate with saidtray to form an open-ended chamber and to compact a material placedtherein, an end plate cooperative with said tray selectively to closeone end thereof, a shaped heating pad conforming to and cooperative withsaid shoe member to seal together layers of a heat-sealable sheetwrapping material disposed upon said shoe member, and heating means toheat seal layers of said Wrapping material overlapped upon the end ofsaid compacted material.

6. Apparatus for wrapping and sealing a package about material to bepacked, comprising a tray having a bottom and sides, means forreleasably holding a sheet of wrapping material within the tray, aclosure shoe for the top of the tray and over which the ends of thesheet are lapped, plate means to close one end of the tray and a heatsealable member movable onto said lapped ends of the sheet on top ofsaid shoe, said shoe being withdrawable from within the sealed sheetwhile said plate means closes said one end, and means to heat sealoverlapping portions of said sheet folded over the end of said package.

7. Apparatus for wrapping a package embodying a tray the shape of saidpackage and having a bottom and sides, a shoe disposable between thesides of the tray for compacting the material therein after heatsealable wrapping material has been placed within the tray with the endsextending from the sides and one end thereof, a heating elementengageable with the ends of the wrapping material overlapped over theshoe for closing the sides of the package, and means for heat sealingthe folded over extending ends of the Wrapping material to complete thepackage.

8. Apparatus for wrapping and sealing a package including, incombination, a semicylindrical tray having lateral flanges at the openside thereof, toggle elements for securing the ends of a sheet ofwrapping material within the tray, a shoe for entering the open side ofthe tray and compacting material therein to be packaged, an end plateinsertable in one end of the tray within the sheet material againstwhich the material to be packed is compacted, a heat sealing elementengaging the lapped edges of the sealing material when extending oversaid shoe for forming a substantially cylindrical package after whichthe shoe and plate are withdrawn from the package, and means for heatsealing the folded over ends of the cylindrical package.

9. Wrapping and sealing apparatus for wrapping and sealing the rootportions of living shrubs and bushes, said apparatus comprising, incombination, a supporting base, a tray mounted on said base and shapedto receive at least the root portions of one of said shrubs or bushes,releasable clamping means releasably to hold a sheet of wrappingmaterial within said tray, a shoe mounted upon an arm and adapted tocover an article held in said tray, said shoe and said tray togetherforming an openended chamber when said shoe is in its operativeposition, said arm being angularly mounted at its end upon a rotatable,slidable shaft, said shaft being slidably mounted in a bushing upon saidbase, said shoe being rigidly afiixed to said arm in a position suchthat said arm may be moved to bring said shoe into close-fittingrelationship with said tray to form said chamber, a retractable endplate swingably mounted upon said base and adapted to swing into anoperative position wherein it closes one end of said chamber, a shapedheating pad conforming generally to the shape of said shoe and swingablymounted upon said base, said heating pad being swingable intoclose-fitting relationship with said shoe when said shoe is in itsoperative position, means to heat said heating pad and to maintain it ata predetermined, elevated temperature, and pedal actuated means toretract said end plate from its operative position and to slide saidshaft in said bushing to withdraw said shoe from its operative position.

10. Wrapping and sealing apparatus comprising an upwardly presentingU-shaped tray defining an open cavity for receiving a sheet ofpaper-like material capable of being sealed, a movable downwardlypresenting U- shaped shoe member adapted to fit between the legs of saidupwardly presenting U-shaped tray to compact material within said traywith which it forms a chamber open at both ends, the ends of thepaper-like material being adapted to be overlapped on said shoe member,and sealing means cooperative with said shoe member and adapted to sealtogether said overlapped ends of the paper-like material disposed uponsaid shoe member to form a tube completely enclosing said compactedmaterial.

11. The invention as defined in claim 10 wherein said sealing meanscomprises a shaped heating pad conforming to and cooperative with saidshoe member to seal together the ends of the sheet of paper-likematerial overlapped upon said shoe member to form a tube encompassingthe compacted material to be wrapped.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 2,907,157October 6, 1959 James Wilbur Romine' It is hereby certified that errorappears in the printed specification of the above numbered patentrequiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read ascorrected below.

Column 4, line 13, for "Wrapped" read Wrapping Signed and sealed this22nd day of March 1960.

(SEAL) Attest:

KARL H. AXLINE ROBERT C. WATSON Attesting Ofiicer Commissioner ofPatents

